


He's in a Green Sweater Tonight, Waiting with Me in the Downpour Outside

by ruff_ethereal



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Government Conspiracy, Lizard Man!Fred, M/M, Mutants, Mutation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 07:06:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4050799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruff_ethereal/pseuds/ruff_ethereal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a Lizard Man isn't as fun as Fred thought it would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's in a Green Sweater Tonight, Waiting with Me in the Downpour Outside

**Author's Note:**

> Title and inspiration from Fall Out Boy's song "Jet Pack Blues".

I curled up in the darkest, most isolated, and tiniest nook in the old dump, a place you'd have trouble finding let alone getting to—if you weren't a Lizard Man like me, that is.

I hugged my tail. It was a very cool tail: muscular, prehensile, and capable of punching through the backs of all of my pants, yet snugly rest just above the garters of my underwear. It was also great in a fight, like bringing the smackdown to goons trying to chain and collar me.

My enhanced Lizard Man vision let me see myself, even with the rain pouring outside and the dark clouds blotting out the sun. My scales were red, with tinges of purple, not like my superhero costume at all. I found it pretty cool—every one of them except the cream scales on my belly could also deflect knives, bullets, and electric prods no problem.

I closed my eyes and let my mind drift back to comic books. Even the dark, dank streets of Gotham were a vacation from where I was now; at least there I knew Batman was watching from the rooftops. I wondered what Bruce Wayne would have done, once he realized that I was no threat—Lizard Man or no, I was still just the school mascot, a science enthusiast, and sometimes Hero of San Fransokyo.

He would have probably sent me to the research lab deep in the Batcave, give me a nice room, maybe poked and prodded at me a little bit, but only with my permission, and _never_ cut me open to study my insides. (I like my insides _inside_ _,_ thank you very much.) Maybe even use the research to make a set of BatLizardMan Armour—lightweight, flexible, yet stronger than steel.

I tried to imagine what it would look like, and smiled. Even decked out in plated scales with a reptile helmet instead of his bat cowl, Batman still looked pretty cool. Then again, he was Batman—looking cool was pretty much a given.

My thoughts drifted back to my friends. I wondered if they'd gotten away okay. For all their claims that they only wanted to help me, the Suits were pretty bent on using their dart guns and collars to try and catch me. They didn't even hesitate to bring out the real bullets once they were facing power suited superheroes.

I smiled. Of course they were okay. Id seen to that. I'd given himself up, the Suits ceased fire, I watched from the back of the truck as my friends flew off on Baymax to safety. When the others were long gone, I broke out using my Lizard Man strength.

(Funny how the Suits hadn't thought of stuffing me into something like a bank truck instead of a van from the pound. It would have taken me a minute or so to break out of the thicker walls. Shows how “silly” comic books were, and how right I was to have known them by heart, cover to cover.)

The Suits chased me, of course, but then I lipped into the sewer system where their trackers were useless, and I had the advantage of Lizard Man superhearing, night vision, flexibility, and natural super claws.

They're probably still down there, looking for me. I smiled as I imagined them and their crisp three-piece suits all covered in sewer water and the usual nastiness.

I wondered what I was going to do next. I couldn't go sneaking back to the family mansion, meet up with my friends, of course. Heck, I'd never see them again period, what with the Suits still after me.

The government doesn't just quit and just let Lizard People go like that.

I figured I'd have to move out of San Fransokyo, find a new life in the wilderness somewhere, or the sewer system of a different city. Possibly New York. There was lots of good things laying around in New York—the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made it out there just fine, right?

I tried not to think about how much I'd miss my friends and family. Especially Wasabi. But, as with any attempt not to miss something, and telling yourself not to do it, I ended up doing it anyway. You'd think I'd know better, seeing as pretty much every comic book with a tragedy scene has done that, but nope!

I had no tear ducts anymore, just a clear pair of second eyelids that, while really helpful for keeping my new Lizard Man eyes hydrated and clean, wasn't really that good for some therapeutic crying. So I just closed my eyes and listened to the rain.

Maybe I'd fall asleep. Hopefully when I wake up and still be in this little cubbyhole, alone but safe. I wished it was back in my room, or in Wasabi's apartment so I could wake up and see that adorable look on his face when he saw how badly I messed up his sheets, like every time I slept over.

But obviously, that wasn't happening.

The rain was actually pretty relaxing. It was nice and steady. Something that didn't change. I slowly started drifting off to sleep.

“Fred? Fred! Fred, are you out here?!”

Both my eyelids flew open. I reflexively rose up and banged my head on a washing machine lodged above me. Thanks to my Lizard Man scales, it didn't hurt. _Un_ fortunately, with my Lizard Man _strength_ , the machine got knocked off the pile, and sent tumbling down the hill with a massive, attention-grabbing 'Clang!' 'Conk!' and 'Bang!'.

I stood up, what was left of my favourite shirt getting soaked in rain water than sewer water this time. With my Lizard Man vision, I could make out a familiar silhouette making its way up the hill of trash I was hiding in.

“Fred!”

I frowned. The “Lizard” part of my Lizard Man brain was urging me to run, run away, and run away _fast;_ the “Man” part of my brain was urging me to run, run back into Wasabi's arms, and jump into them, too. (But not before spinning him around and taking the fall on my Lizard Man back; falling down onto random metallic junk without steel-like scales was no joke.)

With those two sides duking it out, I just stood there, paralyzed, until Wasabi finally managed to climb up to me. He was soaking wet—no raincoat on, just his usual outfit with the green sweater snug over his massive muscular manly chest. He threw his arms around me, pulled me in for a hug, that tight, loving embrace where I could feel his muscles straining, just enough pressure so that I couldn't escape, not enough to cut off my air supply—though, with the Lizard Man scales, now it was more “not enough to start cutting his skin on my hide.”

Wasabi pulled away, smiling so wide he shined in the rain. “ _Fred!_ Oh, _man,_ we've been looking everywhere for you!”

I felt a surge of happiness inside of me. My friends hadn't given up on me. They'd come looking for me.

Then, a wave of horror washed over me. They weren't the only ones looking.

I tried to push Wasabi away, but like always, I couldn't. It was force of habit—even if I could pick Wasabi up and throw him 30-60 feet away, easy, my body still believed that it wasn't strong enough to push Wasabi around. (Nor did I want to, before _or_ after becoming a Lizard Man.)

“C'mon, baby, let's go home.” Wasabi tugged at me and turned around back down the pile.

I slowly grabbed Wasabi's arms and started gently pulling him off. No telling just how sharp these Lizard Man claws or strong these Lizard Man muscles were if I could use them to scale sheer walls and hang off ceilings.

“No. Wasabi. I can't.”

Wasabi blinked, and frowned. “What do you mean you can't?! Fred, baby, I'm here, we can call the others! We can go home now!”

I slowly pushed Wasabi's arms back to his sides. I felt him resisting and pushing back with all his might. I tried my best not to hurt him, like pushing too hard and cutting himself on me.

My yellow tinged with blue Lizard Man eyes looked straight into Wasabi's brown, normal human eyes.

“Wasabi… I can't go home. Not with the Suits looking for me. You know the government's top secret organizations: they don't give up. Ever.”

I could see the desperation all over Wasabi's face. “Fred. Baby. Please, come home. We'll find a way, I promise. We talked to your dad—he told us everything. He says we're going to try...” He stopped and shook his head. The desperation turned into determination, his mouth turned up into a hard line. “No. We'll find a way.

“You're not leaving us, Fred. You're coming home.”

I didn't believe it for a second. But if Wasabi did, I was just going to have to try.

We walked down the pile of trash hand-in-hand. Then, we started thinking of a way to get back home.


End file.
